Swimming in Plants - Gardening Australia - ABC News

SERIES 34 | Episode 32

Tammy meets a landscaper who works underwater - with aquatic plants.

By day, Kevin Chuang is an architect but in his spare time, he designs and creates finely engineered natural ecosystems - he's an aquascaper, and he recently won Australia's bigger aquascaping competition. 

For the contest he had to design and create a tank in 5 hours, using a range of natural materials such as rocks, plants and wood.

He's been doing this hobby for three years now - but he doesn't do much above-ground gardening.

Plants play an important role in a fish tank, avoid the build-up of algae and adding oxygen to the water, so happy plants means happy fish.

There are different styles for aquascapes: nature aquariums, riverbeds, pond style and a pared-back Japanese-inspired style called Iwagumi focusing on the careful placement of rocks and set off against low-growing plants that fill the role of lawn. For this Kevin uses the carnivorous plant Utricularia graminifolia, which eats microorganisms in the tank. This grows in a substrate of baked clay.

In the Iwagumi style, the fish are the showpiece that bring the tank to life.

By contrast, pond styles are often wild and free-flowering with lots of different plants and textures: epiphytes and others above the water, marginal plants, and immersed aquatic plants.

One of Kevin's most complex pieces, which took two months to build and plant, is in the river style. The aim is to make it look as natural as possible with lots of layers and plants.

There are often many different fish types as wel, including shrimp and a type of catfish that eats the algae off the tank glass.

As well as the fish and plants that help maintain the tank, Kevin also uses a filter to break down bacteria, carbon dioxide to provide food to the plants, a light for photosynthesis, and a heater to regulate the temperature.

The hardscape under the plants is often hidden but Kevin demonstrates how to create a tank from scratch, starting with timber and rocks then adding soil, sand, and plants.

Kevin loves the deep connection to nature that he feels through the building and maintenance of tanks, as well as the artistry of trying to imitate nature, then watching nature take over.

Featured Plants 

Utricularia graminifolia

MONTE CARLO

Micranthemum umbrosum

Eleocharis sp.

Bucephalandra cv.

Anubias cv.

Featured Species 

GREEN NEON TETRA

Paracheirodon simulans

DARWIN ALGAE SHRIMP

Caridina 'sp. NT nilotica'

OTOCINCLUS CATFISH

Otocinclus sp.


Filmed on Dharug Country | Lidcombe, NSW

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